Meow Wolfe Grapevine, an innovative art cafe, is scheduled to open this summer in Grapevine Mills. Congratulations to two DFW CPG brands: Purpose Tea (Chi Nguyen, one of our Ambassadors), and It’s Jerky Y’All (All Y’Alls Foods, Brett Christoffel) for being selected as a Meow Wolf Grapevine Vendor. The Santa-Fe based cafe is known for its fun and quirky atmosphere. Learn more here.
Ladies, join fellow women-owned businesses for a morning coffee event where you can meet supplier diversity advocates and community partners to develop professional relationships. Hosted by the Women’s Business Council – Southwest. Cost is $10/members, $15/non-members. Wednesday, April 26, 9 – 10:00 am at Tower 909 in Irving. Register here.
The Hirshberg Entrepreneurship Institute is a high impact 3-day boot camp in Boulder, CO, May 1-3. Conceived by Gary Hirshberg of Stonyfield Farm Organic Yogurt, who grew his business to nearly $400MM in annual sales. The event will offer an intimate venue for entrepreneurs to learn about financing, marketing, organizational challenges, and the many other areas in growing an enterprise. Cost starts at $60 for online or $280 for in-person. Visit here for full details.
Don’t miss the upcoming The Consumer VC Summit in Dallas, May 23, hosted by Mike Gelb and Marc Nathan who are gathering leaders in the CPG industry to share insights and trends in the consumer investing landscape. DFW CPG is one of the sponsors of this event. The Summit will feature successful founders and top investors who will share their experiences with attendees. A great opportunity to connect with the CPG community. Click here for free registration.
PepsiCo is supporting Hispanic-owned food and beverage businesses with its first-ever Juntos Crecemos (Together We Grow) accelerator, limited to 10 companies who will receive $20,000 in grant funding and personalized mentorship. One business will be awarded an additional $100,000 and the opportunity to continue collaborating with PepsiCo to pursue further growth. Must be a Hispanic-owned business with licensing in the United States and have net revenue between $250,000 and $2 million last year. For more information and to apply by May 15, click here.
The largest Dairy, Deli and Bakery food show (IDDBA) will be in Anaheim, CA on June 4-6. If interested in attending and you have questions – we can connect you to one of our Executive Committee members who has attended and can provide insights. Email us at admin@dfwcpg.com. A listing of past retailer participating companies from 2022 and a registration form can be found on IDDBA’s website.
The GO TEXAN Expo will be featured in the Dallas Market Hall during the Total Home & Gift Market taking place Wednesday, June 21, 2023 through Saturday, 24, 2023 with a special GO TEXAN Expo Featured Day on Thursday, June 22! Meet and sample Texas-made products, enjoy networking and workshops for GO TEXAN partners on topics geared for all types of food, health and beauty, home and textile product businesses. Registration is free. Learn more and register here. Just FYI, booth space is sold out
Grant Opportunity: The GO TEXAN-Marketing Enhancement Grant Assistance (MEGA) provides grants to GO TEXAN Partners for the marketing and promotion of certified Texas agricultural products, including those that have been produced, processed, or otherwise had value added to the product in Texas. Applicants may request up to $40,000 and certain restrictions apply. Apply here by May 3.
More GO TEXAN News: Applications are open for the 2023 GO TEXAN General Store at the State Fair of Texas and it fills up fast! There are still plenty of spaces available including a new opportunity this year, Shipper Displays. Companies who select this option will purchase space where they can bring their own branded shipper units. To review all options and sign up, view the General Store application here.
According to Forbes, the Food And Beverage Industry is showing some resiliency in spite of declining venture capital deal volume. “Although total U.S. VC deal count was down 25%, activity in the food and beverage sector remained relatively stable with a total over over 1,000 transactions in Q1 and a total deal value of $1 Billion.” Read the full article here.
Startup CPG has launched the Shelfies Awards with the goal of giving exceptional small CPG brands the recognition they deserve. As the first and only awards program specifically for emerging CPG brands, the Shelfies eliminate the typical hurdles involved in awards applications and create opportunity for brands in their earliest stages. Learn more here.
Impact Ventures is hosting The Inclusive Capital Summit, May 3-5, at The Women’s Building at Fair Park in Dallas. The 3-day interactive experience will connect founders, funders, and innovators focused on seeking solutions to lack of capital, access, tech, and inclusion for under-estimated communities. All guests will also network and be a part of the summit which includes amazing brand activations, founder marketplace, happy hours and more. Click here to learn more and register. Tickets start at $150.
Registration is now open for the 2023 Sweets & Snacks Expo from May 22 – 25 at the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago. The Sweets & Snacks Expo is the can’t-miss event for the candy and snack industries – the best place for attendees to discover brand new innovations, gain actionable insights and benefit from unparalleled access to category and retail industry professionals. Booth costs start around $50/sq ft.
The Specialty Food Association’s Summer Fancy Food Show returning to the Javits Center in NYC, June 25-27. Promoted as the largest B2B gathering of U.S. specialty food makers and buyers, tens of thousands of products will be on exhibit. The show will also focus on everything from supply chain remedies to trending brands to new research, providing incredible insights into the state of our industry. Learn more here.
Social Media Specialist – Volunteer Opportunity with DFW CPG – Are you a social media expert and enjoy creating content? If so, we need you to help us spread the word on all things DFW CPG through Facebook, LinkedIn and InstaGram. Looking for approximately 4 hours of time per week. Please take a look at the job description and reach out to Matt Smith.